I have a good suggestion but it might not be what you were thinking of. Phlebotomy. Simply put being a person who draws blood in a hospital, clinic or home setting. Many hospitals here in the midwest hire people with no previous experience and train them. It is not a difficult job and once you get over the initial discomfort of doing it it can be a very rewarding job. The pay is definitely better than what you could earn working a mall job/retail. Check into that or becoming certified as a home health aide-that is a job that definitely has part time flexible hours available. To do that you would need to take a +80 hours course that is available at most Technical colleges or health care facilities. Good luck and remember there will never be a shortage of work in the health care industry as the baby boomer generation ages and lives longer!!

I'm fortunate that I came up in a family that really encouraged education, so that biases me toward getting a good education before doing anything else in your life!

That said, however, I'd suggest a strategy sorta like this:

If you don't have a HS education, get your GED immediately.

Get really good on the major office computer programs: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Approach. That way, you can always get a job on the secretarial / wordprocessing end of things, while you are getting more training in other skills. You can do this simply by getting the programs and the "... for Dummies" books. Sit down with the program, and work your way through both the manual that comes with it, and the related "... for Dummies" book. Do every exercise they have, and set up every document they show you how to set up. Work on your typing / keyboarding speed with one of the free typing programs (find in Google).

Get you to your local community college, and get tested for your aptitudes. Get jobs counseling, and suggestions there, and get them to help you with a good plan of study that you can follow.

Go to your local library and look for a book named Jobs with a Future. There will be other, similar books in the section that one is located.

Be very careful about "work from home" schemes. Amanda checks out the ones here on FC pretty closely before she posts them, but some of the other ones "out there" are pretty sleazy.

Consider:
Health care management (yes, requires a masters to start, but you can work up through nursing, lab tech, or other health care position while you are getting your degrees in night school) If you go to nursing school (2 years

Law enforcement - start out low in police force, work your way up into forensics (if you like that kind of stuff)

When I decided to stay at home my husband said I didn't have to work but I just like to be busy so I opened a home daycare and that is really stressful and I ended up working 10-15 hours per day with no flexibility and after 3 yrs of that I am down to one baby and then my own 3 children. Whew. I tried a p/t business with Mary Kay and am still a consultant but it took too much time, a lot of money to invest and took me away from my family to accommodate the needs of others by way of home facial parties, workshops, etc. Oh and unless you have customers who reorder regularly you have to pound the pavement and literally push yourself on to others to try to get them interested, that is not my approach. So I am now phasing my way out of it and have everything on sale, I love the products thoug and I enjoy pampering other women. I did check out work at home businesses. The one I went with in July is fourpointgroup who represents Melaleuca and I can tell you that I work very part time and thoroughly enjoy it and am actually getting a paycheck. I was very cautious and very lucky because they are legit. I havent been scammed by other companies because I am too much of a skeptic and a thinker so I had to check out Melas credentials first and it took me a week to make my decision. My family's overall health has improved tremendously. I am working my melaleuca business and gradually earning my residual income from which I plan to use to go to school for an associates degree one of these days, lol. Hopefully when my kids are in school. A lot of people around here either work part time as CNA's or para professionals at the elementary school. So I hope that this helps a little bit. I am living it and enjoy what I do even though it's not for everyone.

What kinds of things do you like to do? It would take some schooling I think but what about doing simple tax returns for people. The season is comming up real soon. Do you babysit? Petsit? Clean peoples houses. Start your own business for whatever you are good at.

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If winkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written on our heart. The spirit should never grow old.
James A Garfield

Elrey - all the tax preparation companies hold schools for people who are interested in doing tax work. H&R Block has one of the largest and most comprehensive courses. And there really is a year round need, as small (and large) businesses need to file quarterly. There is also a "bump" in August when those who got a deferrment have to file.

The IRS also has need of part-time people, but of course, it is not a work-from-home kind of thing. Their definition of part-time often is actually full-time temporary, depending on in which area you are living.

So, Ajrsmom, this is another option. However, there is a slightly better than even chance this job will disappear in the next 10 years with the institution either of a "flat tax" or a national sailes tax to replace the income tax. So this will be better as a "step-up" kind of thing - letting you work while you prepare for a longer-term option.